U.S. Weapons in Cartel Hands? Blame Uncle Sam
President Barack Obama blames the little guy, but Uncle Sam — and not the small-business gun dealer — is the primary supplier of heavy weapons to the Mexican drug cartels in America’s “Third War.”
As noted in a previous article, U.S. military hardware gets to the cartels by one of three routes:
1. U.S. Defense Department shipments to Latin America, known and tracked by the U.S. State Department as “foreign military sales.”
Advertisement2. Weapons ordered by the Mexican government, tracked by the State Department as “direct commercial sales.”
3. Aging but plentiful arsenals of military weapon stores in Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
In each and every instance, the U.S. government is responsible for supplying weapons to the cartels: either directly via the ATF’s Gunrunner scandal routes, or indirectly via military sales and military assistance.
But precisely what weapons are we supplying the cartels? A Pajamas Media investigation found the weaponry seized from cartels that can only come from the U.S. government, which is trying to shift the blame to American small businessmen.
These are the weapons the U.S. has provided to the cartels:
M2 Browning .50 BMG Machine Gun
First captured in Mexico in April of 2009, the “Ma Deuce” is the most powerful machine gun in the U.S. military arsenal. It has been used in aircraft, ground vehicles, tanks, and in dug-in fortifications by our nation since before the Second World War. It can bring down low-flying aircraft and shred police cars — even police stations — with brutal efficiency.
Most of the M2 heavy machine guns in cartel hands have come from corrupt military and government officials in Mexico selling military weapons as part of direct commercial sales. But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has been accused of directly selling two M2s to cartels as part of the current Gunrunner scandal. Those weapons have not been recovered.
M60 Machine Guns
The M60 is the general purpose machine gun that made Rambo famous and accompanied Animal Mother on his famous charge in Full Metal Jacket. Dozens have been recovered in Mexico from cartels. Neither the U.S. government nor the Mexican authorities seem to have an interest in disclosing where these devastating weapons originated.
When the ATF usually sets up a sting, doesn’t the cavalry sweep in at the end of the sale and arrest everyone? It seems rather stupid to actually sell the arms to the cartels. It could make sense if there was a gps tracking device that would lead to the cartel lair but apparently that was not the case.
ATF and Justice are more interested in controlling possession of firearms on this side of the border. Not to mention that to blame our “friends” to the south might be construed as “racist” and upset a growing Latino community that might then stay home from the polls.
“Aging but plentiful arsenals of military weapon stores in Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.”
I actually never thought about this. I wonder how many weapons are smuggled into this country through these three countries? And an older machine gun can kill you just as quickly as a new one. But I wonder how old these “aging” arsenals are? From the 1960s? And I wonder what, exactly, the weapons are? I’m also sure some people in a country like Nicaragua would like nothing better than to help a bunch of criminals cause us as many problems as possible. Payback for the United States supporting the Contras against them. Just shows you what happens when you lose control and influence in central America. I’m sure with Obama in the White House, they have absolutely no incentive to change their attitude towards us, let alone help us with this problem.
German G3′s, Belgian FAL’s, and the good old AK47 all sold well in Central and South America. I’ve seen all three in photos of guns seized from the cartels.
Why pay $3k for a U.S. sold semi-auto version when the real military version is available at a fraction of the price?
More like “Regan era” arsenals; there have been some similar articles tracking the origin of US made hand grenades and how they got into the hands of cartels. M2 in a minivan…now that is a drive by!
If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Obama and Holder were trying to destabilize Mexico. Why else would they allow, or even order, BATFE to supply large amounts of military-grade weapons to what are essentially insurgent groups?
Anyone who still believes that the drug cartels “just want to make money” at this late date isn’t paying attention. The cartels are trying to remove the elected government of Mexico and replace it with either themselves, or “controllable” political hacks. And in several of the northern Mexican states (notably Chihuahua) they seem to have already accomplished this- creating “liberated areas” in the best (sarc) tradition of Communist guerrillas throughout the world.
What we have here is a replay of Iran-Contra (remember that?) on a massive scale. The difference is that Reagan and Oliver North were arming insurgents in a country that openly declared itself our enemy- Nicaragua under the Sandinistas. Mexico is (putatively) our friend. So, unless our Fearless Leaders know something that isn’t obvious to the rest of us, they are engaged in trying to overthrow a government that is not hostile to us, and replace it with one that almost certainly will be.
Which of course brings to mind exactly who helped Ortega & Co. seize power in Nicaragua to begin with. Namely, Jimmy Carter, who to this day seems to take an especial level of glee in the number of leftist or otherwise anti-Western regimes’ he helped midwife in his catastrophic four years in the Oval Office. Obama seems to be not merely cut from the same cloth, but using the exact same playbook. He’s just got the throttle to the firewall.
A good question to ask would be, if Holder is (directly) responsible for this, and President Calderon’ would ask that Obama fire him for doing so, how would Obama respond? (NB: No, I don’t expect this to happen, as Calderon’ is too firmly tied to The One’s coattails. But if he actually had a pair, he would.)
Another would be, how do Obama and Holder see this as benefiting them? (NB again; That’s “them” personally and politically- I do not believe for one minute that they think it would benefit the United States as a whole, nor do I think they give a damn.)
Yes, it certainly makes it easier for the pair of them to push “gun control”, but they could have rammed that through when they controlled both houses of Congress, just as Clinton did. And like Clinton, let the Dems’ Congressional delegation take the lumps, just as they did on O-Care. (Obama obviously doesn’t care about his party’s prospects, as long as he gets to sit in the big chair.)
There are two logical possibilities;
1. Obama believes that increased instability in Mexico is beneficial to him. This most likely means he seeks to make immigration to the U.S. more attractive to Mexicans fleeing the violence. Or else he wants a drug cartel run Mexico to ensure an endless supply of drugs to the U.S., perhaps to make us throw up our hands and agree to legalization, thereby making his base on the left very happy indeed.
(And for his next trick, he will no doubt incorporate taxpayer-funded Free Dope For Life into O-care- restricted to only “truly good, sensitive, caring” people, of course. Because “sensitive” progressives just need it sooo much.)
2. Obama and Holder are even more dogmatic, and stupid, that we previously believed. So much so that they are willing to destroy Mexico in the hopes of passing “meaningful gun control” up here.
(This is known as the “blow up a mansion to kill a mouse” method of governance- as in the movie “Mouse Hunt”.)
I call the odds six-five and pick ‘em.
clear ether
eon
The nicest thing I can say about the ATF is that it is anti-American. This is just one more example of some government hacks with more power than brains. The next time you talk to you very own elected Federal asshat please as when was the last time the Federal Government delivered on time, on budget and with the promised results? I think the answer is not in the past century.
This whole story peddled by the ATF about tracking where the weapons went is nothing but smoke and mirrors. The main object was to increase the ATF’s budget and empire building. The ATF ( Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms ) would make a better name for a convenience store then it was been proven to be a crime fighting organization.
While I have not even marginal liking for Obuma or the Demorats in general, however, this did not begin within the last few years. Administrations going back more than 40 years have covered for the corrupt and ineffective Mexican government. Our immigration problem is a direct result of Mexican governmental corruption. If the Mexican government didn’t and continue to stifle opportunity, their dispossessed would not be here. For those who wish to view our future gaze upon Mexico! Have you had enough big, intrusive government, yet?
The weapon in the second picture (from top to bottom), which is described as the M60 machine gun, is, in fact, a bolt action (meaning not automatic, and not even semiautomatic) .50 caliber rifle. Many of them are owned by civilians, and the US military is using this type of weapon as a long range sniper rifle, in Afganistan, among other places.
Look at the gun on the bipod, just to the right of the Barrett .50. That’s the M60. In fact, it’s the original model with the bipod attached to the quick-change barrel, and the carry handle attached to the barrel heat-shroud jacket, rather than the later M60A1 that rather more sensibly has things set up the other way around. (I.E., the “Sixty” shown here is the one that flops gracelessly over onto the ground when you pull the hot barrel, and which requires an asbestos “mitten” to handle said hot barrel because it doesn’t have an actual handle.) The M60A1 arrangement, BTW, was borrowed from the Belgian FN MAG 1958, which today is used by U.S. forces as the M240B. (Yes, we replaced the M60 with a gun that was actually in service before it was. Because the Two-Forty Bravo is a better machine gun, period.)
Considering the age of the “Sixty” in the photo, it had to come from either Latin American sources, like Venezuela, or U.S. National Guard stocks. Mainly because nobody other than U.S. forces, or Latin American countries that got them under MAP, ever used that version. (Nobody else was unlucky enough to get stuck with the contrary beast.)
cheers
eon
The M60 picture looks to be a semi-auto. 50 cal. Barrett perhaps?
The M60 is the second weapon in the photograph (the Barrett is closest to the camera, all you can see of the M60 is the barrel and bipod).
Our FTA sells guns to the drug cartels, but you as a everyday American citizen,with a clean criminal record are made to jump through hoops to buy a gun and then your told if you can not carry your weapon concealed. Even though our law enforcement people can not or will not protect us!If you order your guns in Spanish they will give you some free grenades with your order.
Looks like little has changed with the ATF, actually I take that back, they have gotten worse, a lot worse.
My imagination says thing are not going to get better any time soon. Shoot, they might even use these goons to disarm us once the UN decrees it.
The idea that the cartels are armed with crew served weapons is scary. Its bad enough to know that they have military grade weapons to start with. It doesn’t matter that these weapons are old, or how the barrels work with a bipod, they will still effectively kill you.
Check for Holder’s fingerprints and obama’s signature on the sales slip
Oh I don’t know, but if you want an armed force of scum on your border, a force willing to be bought and to repay favors with favors, that can destabilize an area of the country you hate, I do mean the USA, and your names are Obama and Holder,[an inconsequential pimp and tool], why Not arm and encourage them? If you are the scurvy filth currently running the country there are opportunities here of many and different sorts.
One thing’s certain, you can’t put any sort of outrage past the diseased garbage in the WH, nor the media that will make excuses for them.
The U.S. administration has blood on its hands.
“The cartels are trying to remove the elected government of Mexico and replace it”
Well, the Mexican cartels are fighting to eliminate all their competition, and their targeting includes any government employees who have been corrupted by their competition. The central government is already under the influence/control of one of those cartels, and that cartel has the lead in the current betting pool on which one will end up on top nationwide, but each cartel has a power center and their own pool of corrupt officialdom so the warfare continues. THe government really isn’t a “side” – it’s part of the terrain the cartel’s are fighting over.
When looking at Mexico, it’s best to remember it’s been a kleptocracy for the last 150 years (if not the last 500 years). The issue now is simply who gets to sit on top and rake in all the graft. Think of the current Mexican situation as a civil war between different regional warlords (similar to China from the 20s through Mao’s victory) and it will make more sense.
Is it just me? Or, am I beginning to see blury lines between a, “corrupt Mecixan police officer or corrupt Mexican official” and the, “BATFE agents, Eric Holder and President Obama”? I’m just saying, what’s the difference? They are ALL one in the same in these matters.